Does the orientation of a model when exported matter?

A real newbie question, but here goes.

Do you have to have the model perfectly flat on the modelling plane just the way you want it to be printed for it to print properly? If you have it rotated at some weird angle for viewing and save and export it to an stl file, is that the way it will be set for printing?

Placing the model as it will be printed is not mandatory, but it will save you some headaches.

Some slicing programs can rotate a model in three axes, but I don’t think Slic3r, which is the software recommended by Lulzbot, can.

If I need to flip someone else’s model, i find the quickest and easiest method is to open it in the free version of netfabb, flip it however I need, then re export it to STL. I’ve been using Repetierhost instead of prointerface for printing for a couple weeks now, and it has a decent 3 axis object flipper built into it, but it’s just cleaner to start with a part set up right. Netfabb is also great for fixing STL files with glitches in them without destroying the STL. http://www.netfabb.com/

Thanks for the help. I went a head and reoriented it properly before export and it looks a lot more feasible now when loaded into SLIC3R.